Hundreds of friends and family members of Dylan Winnik gathered at a church in Lake Worth Saturday to remember the 12-year-old boy.Dylan’s parents said their son was a healthy boy who started feeling ill last Sunday. He died two days later. In a tweet Saturday, the Medical Examiner’s office confirmed what the family had already believed: Dylan was killed by the flu. The tweet said, “Influenza B tragically killed Dylan Winnik based on the preliminary finding by State Health Laboratory using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing. Waiting for final confirmation.” In other words, it appears Dylan was a victim of one of the worst flu seasons we’ve seen in years. “We’ve had a very busy flu season this year,” said Dr. Jonathan Virkler, an ER doctor at Jupiter Medical Center. “We’ve had a very high patient volume.” In fact, Dr. Virkler said they’re seeing record numbers of flu patients at the hospital: 12 to 20 every day. He said that’s double what they normally see during flu season. “This year’s strain seems a little more virulent or a little more serious or disease causing than other strains we’ve previously seen,” Dr. Virkler said. To compound the problem, Dr. Virkler also said this year’s flu shot does not match well with this serious strain. He said it’s less than 20 percent effective. In most cases, the patient makes a full recovery. But as we’ve seen with Dylan Winnik, flu can also be fatal. “For reasons that we don’t understand why one child would die and another does perfectly fine. We see it happen rarely, thank God,” Dr. Virkler said. Dr. Virkler said the best way for you to protect your children is to get them the flu vaccine. He said even though its effectiveness is lower than normal, it can still protect you. He also said the vaccine is adjusted throughout flu season to better fit the strains of flu we’re seeing. He also suggested parents remain vigilant and not be shy about seeing a doctor. “If your child complains they’re having increasing shortness of breath, they look like they’re having trouble breathing, those would be signs that it’s either time to take them to the doctor or bring them to the hospital,” Dr. Virkler said.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. —

Hundreds of friends and family members of Dylan Winnik gathered at a church in Lake Worth Saturday to remember the 12-year-old boy.

Dylan’s parents said their son was a healthy boy who started feeling ill last Sunday.

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He died two days later.

In a tweet Saturday, the Medical Examiner’s office confirmed what the family had already believed: Dylan was killed by the flu.

The tweet said, “Influenza B tragically killed Dylan Winnik based on the preliminary finding by State Health Laboratory using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing. Waiting for final confirmation.”

In other words, it appears Dylan was a victim of one of the worst flu seasons we’ve seen in years.

“We’ve had a very busy flu season this year,” said Dr. Jonathan Virkler, an ER doctor at Jupiter Medical Center. “We’ve had a very high patient volume.”

In fact, Dr. Virkler said they’re seeing record numbers of flu patients at the hospital: 12 to 20 every day.

He said that’s double what they normally see during flu season.

“This year’s strain seems a little more virulent or a little more serious or disease causing than other strains we’ve previously seen,” Dr. Virkler said.

To compound the problem, Dr. Virkler also said this year’s flu shot does not match well with this serious strain.

He said it’s less than 20 percent effective.

In most cases, the patient makes a full recovery.

But as we’ve seen with Dylan Winnik, flu can also be fatal.

“For reasons that we don’t understand why one child would die and another does perfectly fine. We see it happen rarely, thank God,” Dr. Virkler said.

Dr. Virkler said the best way for you to protect your children is to get them the flu vaccine.

He said even though its effectiveness is lower than normal, it can still protect you. He also said the vaccine is adjusted throughout flu season to better fit the strains of flu we’re seeing.

He also suggested parents remain vigilant and not be shy about seeing a doctor.

“If your child complains they’re having increasing shortness of breath, they look like they’re having trouble breathing, those would be signs that it’s either time to take them to the doctor or bring them to the hospital,” Dr. Virkler said.